A Friend In Need

The summer sun was just starting its slow descent on another hot and humid day as Applejack trotted up the road from Sweet Apple Acres into Ponyville proper. It had taken a bit of planning, and calling in a couple of favors with her cousins, but she had managed to arrange things to her liking. An early afternoon off and nopony expecting her back until late the next night was perfect for her plans.

The thought brought a playful grin to Applejack’s face. Oh, she had plans alright. Fluttershy had left the Acres after a brief nap, but not before Applejack managed to talk her way into an invitation for dinner the next week. Sending the troubled pegasus on her way with a hug, Applejack had started planning even as she watched the slightly unsteady pink and yellow form vanish across the green fields towards the cottage at the edge of Everfree forest.

Making the arrangements was easy enough, she thought. Now for the really fun part. Putting it all together.

~ * ~

“Is all this rigmarole really necessary, Twilight?” Applejack asked.

She was standing in the basement of the Books and Branches Library, at the center of a sprawling diagram of various magical symbols sketched out on the floor in paint. From outside the circle, Twilight Sparkle looked up from checking the runes against the spellbook resting on the floor with a smile.

“Proper procedure must be followed, Applejack!” She gestured to the diagram with satisfied little smirk. “This is a complicated spell, and I am not going to take any chances on it not going exactly right.”

“If you’re sure...”

Applejack’s voice made it clear that the explanation had done nothing to reassure her, but she wasn’t about to call the whole thing off. Too many of her plans for the evening revolved around this spell going as planned.

Her eyes followed Twilight Sparkle’s happily humming form as the unicorn finished putting the last touches on the spell diagram and neatly stowed the small pot of white paint she had been using to trace the arcane symbols. Turning back to the spellbook for a moment, Twilight levitated a small scrap of parchment that had served as a bookmark and took up her quill.

“Okay. Let’s make sure we’re ready. Spell diagram complete? Check.”

She checked off the box happily, moving down the list with care.

“Spell subject? Check.”

Applejack silently rolled her eyes, holding back the urge to snicker at the cute little scowl Twilight gave her when she noticed.

“Reference material? Check. Proper atmospheric lighting? Check. Consent forms signed in duplicate? Check.”

Methodically, Twilight Sparkle worked her way down the list, checking off each item with neat strokes until she was satisfied everything was perfect. After what seemed like hours to the impatient Applejack, she set aside the checklist and turned back to her friend with a smile.

“Okay, that’s almost everything. One last question, and we can do this. You read the warnings in that consent form, right?” Twilight’s smile grew into a smirk as she listened to Applejack mutter something that sounded like “Mostly.”

“Well, we’ll go over the highlights then. There are three things you need to remember about this, Applejack. First, this is a limited time spell that will reverse on its own. You’ve got until sunrise tomorrow, although if anything at all goes wrong, I can cancel it for you at any time.”

Twilight’s voice was brisk, not quite the scholarly lecturing she could sometimes fall into, but doing her best to make sure Applejack understood exactly what was going to happen before she did anything. As she spoke, she paced around the outside of the circle, her horn glowing as parts of the painted runes lit up in sequence in response.

“Second, this is a physical change only. You’re going to feel a bit strange at first, but the body is just a container for the mind. You’ll still be yourself on the inside.” Twilight looked up from the runes at that, to smile sympathetically at Applejack. “Princess Celestia ‘volunteered’ me to be the demonstration model for this spell back at the University, so you can trust me on this one. I know exactly what it feels like.”

Applejack blinked at that, taken a bit aback, but nodded to Twilight. “That does make me feel a mite more comfortable, sugarcube.”

Twilight smiled again, moving to stand directly in front of Applejack before picking up the spellbook in her magic and floating it to lie on the floor in front of her.

“Good. This is a complicated spell, and the more you relax and don’t fight it, the faster it will go. Last point then. The third thing to remember is the most important.”

Leaning forward until her nose was almost touching Applejack’s, Twilight stared into the earth pony’s green eyes, her expression hardening for a moment.

“Don’t break her heart, or I’ll turn you into a newt.”

Applejack blinked at the fierce protectiveness in Twilight’s eyes, her ears going back at the sharp tone, then she shook her head with a wry chuckle.

“I figured you’d guess why I was suddenly all eager to volunteer for this.” At Twilight’s nod, she continued. “You know I wouldn’t hurt a friend, Twi, but I give you my word, this is all to make Fluttershy feel better, not worse.”

Twilight’s smile returned with a giggle. “That’s what I hoped you would say. Excellent, we are ready to begin. You just stay right there and relax, and I’ll have this set before you know it.”

With that, Twilight closed her eyes in concentration, the violet light of her magic brightening around her horn. The runic circle on the ground echoed that brightening, and in a few moments Applejack was forced to squint against the glare. Twilight had become just a darker outline against the wall of light, her horn a point of burning magic almost too bright to look at.

Then the light flared, blinding Applejack for a moment. Slowly her vision cleared, the light fading back to form walls of calligraphic script floating in midair, as if Twilight had drawn them in light rather than simple paint. She had only a moment to marvel at the sight of glowing runes hovering against the darkness of the library basement before the drone of soft words in an unfamiliar language brought Applejack’s attention back to Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight’s eyes were still closed as she recited the complex formula of the spell, but the steady hum of powerful energies lent her voice a hint of hollow echo as she shaped the raw magic into the forms she would need. The fine orange hairs of Applejack’s coat began to rise as the magic gathered around her as well, and she shivered as pure power caressed her gently under her friend’s control. Slowly the power built, leaving the air within the circle heavy with magic that pressed in on Applejack from all directions.

The pressure grew for a few moments more, then Twilight reached the climax of the spell. As she pronounced the last word in a ringing voice, the pressure on Applejack suddenly spiked, then vanished as the spell grounded itself through her, pouring power into her with a disorienting wrench that wasn’t so much painful as intensely odd.

The first thing Applejack felt as she recovered from the disorientation of the spell’s completion was a gentle nuzzle. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking as the basement seemed to shift for a moment then settle once again. Twilight Sparkle was standing in front of her, smiling victoriously, but something looked odd about her.

It took Applejack a moment to figure out the problem.

“Twi, why’re you so... short?”

She blinked at the sound of her own voice. It was her own soft drawl, right enough, but in a warm tenor rather than her usual contralto. She blinked again, then chuckled.

“Guess it worked, then.”

Twilight Sparkle nodded, looking up at the orange colt who now stood a good few inches taller than her with a grin.

“Just as planned.”

The unicorn stepped back a moment to look her friend over, silently kicking herself internally for not realizing a few things sooner. Applejack made one hell of an attractive stallion, to her eyes. The spell had traded the athletic grace of a mare for a stallion’s hard muscle, making the hard-working farmer’s strength much more obvious. Silently, Twilight dragged a full-length mirror over with her magic so Applejack could get a good look at herself.

“That’s one heck of a spell.”

Applejack had to admit the family resemblance was even stronger as a colt. It was glaringly obvious that he was related to Macintosh, although the orange stallion in the mirror was a few inches shorter and a good bit less bulky than his red coated brother. The square jaw was much the same, though, and Applejack adjusted his hat before leaning down to nuzzle Twilight Sparkle gratefully.

“I think this’ll do nicely. Much obliged, Twi.”

The slight blush across her cheekbones as Twilight looked up stirred something deep in Applejack, and he gave her a lopsided grin that only served to deepen her blush and set her to stammering for a moment until she regained her composure.

“You...er... you’re welcome, AJ!” Twilight cleared her throat briefly, before turning away to hide the blush. “Ahem. Your saddlebags are on the table over there, I picked up the things you asked me to so you shouldn’t have to stop in town....”

Such was her distraction that she didn’t realize Applejack had moved until a warm neck stretched across her own, and Twilight found her side pressed against a muscular chest when Applejack pulled her into a hug. Warm breath tickled her ear as a soft, amused voice rumbled to her.

“I mean it, Twi. Any time you need anything, you just let me know.”

Applejack closed his eyes as Twilight Sparkle seemed to melt against him, savoring the faint smell of lavender and old books that always seemed to cling to the librarian’s mane. After a long moment, she pulled away, turning around to face Applejack with a slightly wistful smile.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Leaning up, Twilight Sparkle buried her nose beneath that square jaw for a moment, savoring the scent of apples underlaid with the faint musk of a stallion’s natural scent, then settled back on her haunches to smile up at her friend once more. A momentary flicker of magic brought the loaded saddlebags floating over to settle comfortably across Applejack’s broadened withers.

“You’d better get going, AJ. Fluttershy’s probably a wreck by now, and if you’re late she’ll just get too wound up with worry to enjoy herself.”

Applejack nodded, and headed for the stairs with a smile. A brief clatter of hooves on stone steps and he was gone, leaving Twilight Sparkle sitting on a basement floor that was rather more damp than it had been a few minutes ago. For a moment she closed her eyes, letting her imagination drift to how good it would feel to have her back pressed into that strong chest, face down on the bed and...

With a wry chuckle, Twilight dragged herself to her hooves and headed for the stairs a well. A bubble bath, a bottle of wine, and one of those romance novels Rarity kept checking out sounded like the order of the evening.